Phase I.I- Initiation

"Hello!"

Kat was taken aback by the women who she opened the door to. She had long blonde hair in a ponytail, blue eyes, big full lips, immaculate makeup and what seemed to be an exaggerated hourglass figure, punctuated by her orange and white striped shirtdress, pristine white heels and gloves.

Compared to her, Kat felt insecure, in her Judas Priest T-shirt, slipper, and slacks. Hell, since she had gotten to this town, she had felt it. The women here looked like supermodels, even the heavier ones. They all looked like they stepped off a photoshoot, with perfect hair, perfect make-up, perfect bodies, and glamorous looks. Probably a photoshoot for an old Sears catalog. All full knee length dresses or outfits with skirts, some with petticoats, some pencil skirts, but no pants in sight. Completely clean, too.

Kat owned maybe one skirt? And one evening dress? These women's outfits were definitely different from her endless array of dour pantsuits, but she thinks that shouldn't be an issue. She, after all, has to look professional when she deals with clients.

The women all seemed happy too. But if there's one thing Kat had learned from her profession, nobody is ever that happy. And that's why she's here.

"I'm Helena McPherson, I live next door." the woman had a slight German accent.

"Dr. Katherine Morgan. You can call me Kat, though." Kat shook the woman's hand and let her into her home.

"Oh, 'Doctor'. What do you practice?"

"Psychiatry."

"Lovely!" Helena looked around. "The house looks fantastic!"

"Yeah, we moved most of our furniture here already, thanks to your excellent moving service. We're just moving some personal items into the new office."

Kat took Helena up to her new office. There was a waiting room with couches and seats, with a wall next to the receptionist desk.

"You're working from home?"

"Yeah, we're searching for a good place around here for office space, but my son and the realtor said that the women of this community might be more comfortable at home, so we have a home office for now. We had this built specifically to have an office here."

"Is this just you or is your husband helping?"

Kat winced a little.

"Well... he's out of the picture."

"Oh, so sorry...."

"Oh, not in that way!" Kat laughed nervously "We divorced. We couldn't make it work."

"What happened?" Helena looked over Kat critically.

"He ... had an affair with my receptionist, Beatriz."

"He wasn't satisfied with you?"

"Perhaps. He had grown distant, and we weren't... well, we couldn't make it work."

"I see." Kat was unnerved by Helena's tone, but brushed it off.

The two entered the office. A standard psychiatric office, with all of Kat's degrees on the wall, a desk, and a bookshelf. The rolling chair was outside the desk, with a couch for patients to sit in. A young man was currently behind the desk, putting the degrees and paintings on the wall, and all of Kat's accessories on her desk.

"This is my son, Darryl."

Darryl shook Helena's hand. Helena eyed the young man, with his lean, slightly muscular build, and full face. He did look like his mother somewhat.

"Darryl, this is Helena, our new neighbor."

"Very nice to meet you. Your husband was Danny McPherson?"

"Yes!"

"I spoke to your husband on the phone about buying the house and adding this extension."

"Darryl here is excited." Kat laughed. "He's been doing all the work to move, so that I don't have to worry about it. He's even been moving all the personal stuff here."

"What does you do, Darryl?"

"I'm a grad student, actually. In Psychiatry."

"Following in dear old Mom's footsteps!" Kat leaned over and kissed Darryl on the cheek, which Darryl reciprocated.

"I actually got a scholarship to Stepford University."

"Oh, that's a good school! My own children go there."

"I like it so far." Darryl was organizing all the medication and prescription pads.

"Well, let's just leave him to finish the work. I wouldn't want to come back to a messy office, would I?"

Darryl laughed as he crouched down again.

---

Kat showed Helena the rest of the house, before the two sat in the kitchen to have some tea.

"So, Helena, I heard your accent a little."

"Yes, I am from Austria, originally. Salzburg. I moved to the States to study medicine."

"A fellow doctor I see."

"Well, not anymore. After my husband moved, I haven't had the ... opportunity to practice. I'm mainly a wife and mother now."

"That's a shame."

"It's not! I quite like my new role. Besides, I wasn't a particularly good doctor."

"Well, still." Kat could smell a client. "I think my practice is especially for women like you."

"You think so?"

"Honey, I know so." Kat had a set of business cards ready since they had seen her office. "Here's my card. You could send it to your friends if they need any help."

"Oh, that would be wonderful. Thank you, Kat."

"You're very welcome, sweetheart." The two hugged, as Darryl came down the stairs. He had his red backpack on, and his helmet.

"I see we have a new client."

"We?" Helena was confused.

"My son is working with me as my assistant and receptionist while he finishes school. Helps with getting his Ph.D."

"Gives me credits too. Anyway, heading to the university." Darryl hugged his mom tightly and kissed her head.

"Have a great day."

"Oh, I will."

---

Darryl biked for several minutes (admiring the women of the town in their vintage clothes and flattering dresses), before reaching his destination: a large, imposing country club on the hill, with a long winding road. He parked his bike on the wall, and approached the gate.

He wasn't getting in, but headed to the bushes nearby, where a man in a fedora-trenchcoat waited. He wore a black mask and black gloves, as well as a black body suit underneath the trenchcoat.

"Mr. Morgan?"

Darryl nodded, and placed his backpack on the ground.

"I trust you have your 'first assignment' ready."

Darryl nodded and pulled files out of the backpack. "These are some of my mom's old clients."

"Excellent. These will be great for recruitment purposes. Did you complete part 2?"

Darryl nodded and pulled out a medicine bottle. Some pills were inside.

"My mom's anti-depressants."

The man took the bottle and carefully examined it, counting the pills. He then threw the pills away, and took out a dispenser, carefully putting similar pills into the bottle.

"8...9. Alright, put this back where you found it." the man gave the bottle with the new pills back.

Darryl excitedly put the bottle into his pocket.

"Don't get excited yet, kid. It's going to take a few days."

"I know. What else needs to be done?"

"You need to make sure that you take your mom's prescription pad and not write "lexapro"... you know what?" The man pulled out another medicine bottle from his pocket. "Here's the real name for reference. Get a lot of this for your mother."

"Alright."

"And remember to observe her for the next two days. Once the new medicine starts to take effect, you can start being more open with her. Start to appeal to her. That'll accelerate the process."

"I was planning to." Boy, was he planning to.

"And you have the cameras set up?"

"All over the house. I have complete control too."

"Cool.... I mean, good." the man was confused "Alright, remember your next assignment for next week.

"I do. I do very well."

The man laughed as Darryl began to leave.

"You know, kid. The old guard thinks the robots and microchips or whatever were faster. I think this is funner."

"I think so too."

The man laughed again as Darryl rode off to the university. The trenchcoat man walked up to the gate and pulled off his mask near the voicebox.

"Name?"

"Emmett Cage"

Beep.

"Goddamnit, Emmett Cage."

Another beep.

"We'll move you to our operators."

A brief moment of silence.

"Hello?"

"It's me!"

"Oh, sorry Mr. Cage. Our system still has your...."

"My deadname?"

"We're real sorry about that, sir. We're still trying to integrate our systems with the LGBT auxiliary."

"I don't care, just let me in, I need a drink! It's cold out here."

---

"Well, thanks for visiting Helena!"

After spending an afternoon chatting, Helena was off.

"Thank you, Ms. Morgan. I will see you for our appointment tomorrow"

Kat would've objected, but decided the woman needed some time.

"I will see you too! Thanks for promoting me to your friends!"

"Don't mention it! You will probably see a lot of clients soon!"

"I hope so!"

"You have a lovely home, too. And you are very hospitable. With a few tweaks, you would be the perfect neighbor."

Kat was caught off guard by this comment.

"Hang on." Kat got Helena's attention. "What do you mean, a few tweaks."

"Well.... just some tweaks. You seem to need adjustments."

The two said their goodbyes, but Kat continued to be struck by that comment.

As she looked at her self in the mirror that night, she looked her body. "What 'adjustments' do I need?"

Kat didn't necessarily see anything wrong. Sure, she wasn't the movie stars that seemed to inhabit this town, but she looked alright for her age. She eventually shrugged it off, and took her lexapro.

Something felt off about it, but she dismissed it and went to sleep.

On the other wall, sitting with his phone watching was Darryl. He had his hand firmly on his penis.